The delegation of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia (MKRI) led by Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih went on an official visit to Turkey on April 24-28, 2020 to attend the 60th anniversary of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Turkey. Around 30 constitutional courts and equivalent institutions attended the event.

The event culminated in an international conference on “The Interpretation of Constitution in the Protection of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms” on April 25. The conference was opened by the President of the Constitutional Court of Turkey Zuhtu Arslan, with President Tayyip Erdogan in attendance. The opening session was followed by exchange of tokens between President Arslan and the international delegations.

Greeting Session

The conference was then followed by a greeting session with the President of the Constitutional Council of Algeria Omar Belhadj, Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan Farhad Abdullayev, Chairman of the Constitutional Council of Kazakhstan Kairat Mami, and the Chairman of the Constitutional Court of Uzbekistan Mirza-Ulugbek Abdusalomov. On the next session of the conference on Tuesday, April 26, Constitutional Justice Enny Nurbaningsih delivered a presentation on “Constitutional Interpretation by the Constitutional Court of Indonesia on the Protection of Basic Rights and Freedoms.”

Justice Enny revealed that the Constitutional Court serves to guard the Constitution, democracy, and basic rights and freedoms. Should any part of the Constitution violate the rights of citizens, on the petitioner’s request, the Constitutional Court may play its role to protect, promote, and rehabilitate the constitutional rights of citizens. The touchstone from which the constitutionality of a law is judged shall be the 1945 Constitution. Thus, interpreting the Constitution can be done, among others, by finding the original intent within the 1945 Constitution and following textual and contextual dynamics.

In the conference, Justice Enny also expressed her wish that the good relations between the Constitutional Courts of Indonesia and Turkey as well as constitutional courts across the globe could be improved. She also congratulated the Constitutional Court of Turkey on its 60th anniversary and wished it success in its future endeavors.

The symposium was concluded with a special session where all heads of delegations were invited to dispense mutually beneficial information. Justice Enny informed the audience that the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Indonesia had been selected to host the fifth Congress of the World Conference on Constitutional Justice (WCCJ) on “Constitutional Justice and Peace” in Bali on October 2022. The theme signifies the need for the spirit to realize eternal peace upholding constitutional justice.